Themes: Fathers and Sons, Misfits and Outsiders, Eccentric Families
Main Cast: John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Sophie Okonedo, Oliver Platt, Bobby Coleman
Release Year: 2007
Country: US
Run Time: 106 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Adapted from a Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novelette by author David Gerrold, Menno Meyjes's Martian Child stars John Cusack as a widowed science fiction writer who adopts a boy (Bobby Coleman) who claims to be from the Red Planet. The writer believes the child acts strangely in order to process the difficulty he has had in his young life, but soon both he and his sister (Joan Cusack) begin to wonder if the boy might be telling the truth. Amanda Peet co-stars as the woman who becomes a mother figure for the boy. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Review
Martian Child is the K-PAX of movies in which widowers adopt orphans. This dismissive summation does not mean Menno Meyjes' film is bad, just that it can be neatly categorized: It's an inspirational drama with just enough whimsy to keep it from constantly tugging at your heart strings. Dennis (Bobby Coleman) is like K-PAX's Prot (Kevin Spacey) in several ways, not least of which is the idea that he really could be from outer space. Both characters have powers that are super-human enough to defy explanation, and both appear to know intimate details about their home planet and native tongue, which are brilliantly complicated delusions at the very least. The big difference is that Dennis is a child in need of guardianship, so when John Cusack's science fiction writer takes that leap, its replete with the danger of worsening the child's evident psychological trauma if the adoption doesn't stick. Cusack is the main element that shakes Martian Child out of its comfortable formula; his anguished and soulful performance truly gets inside the enormity of this perilous new responsibility. Coleman also does decent work, though that comes with an unavoidable asterisk. Namely, Dennis' affect must be strange in order to convince us he thinks he's an alien, but Coleman's rote and whispery line deliveries could also just be poor craft. (Not that picking on a 10-year-old actor is ever really fair). The rest of the details fall into place more or less as expected -- Amanda Peet is on hand as a tentative love interest for Cusack's grieving widower, Oliver Platt is on hand as the obligatory literary agent nagging his client for manuscript pages, and Joan Cusack is on hand because, well, she's John Cusack's sister. Still, Martian Child exceeds expectations enough to be worth a flier, especially for K-PAX fans. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Luke Ryan - Associate Producer, Mary Gail Artz - Casting, Seth Bass - Co-producer, Jonathan Tolins - Co-producer, Michael Dennison - Costume Designer, Menno Meyjes - Director, Bruce Green - Editor, Valdís Óskarsdóttir - Editor, Mike Drake - Executive Producer, Toby Emmerich - Executive Producer, David Gerrold - Executive Producer, Matt Moore - Executive Producer, Mark Kaufman - Executive Producer, Aaron Zigman - Composer (Music Score), Hugo Luczyc-Wyhowski - Production Designer, Robert Yeoman - Cinematographer, Ed Elbert - Producer, David Kirschner - Producer, Corey Sienega - Producer, Michael Williamson - Sound/Sound Designer, Robert C. Jackson - Sound/Sound Designer, Seth Bass - Screenwriter, Jonathan Tolins - Screenwriter, David Gerrold - Book Author
Martian Child is a 2007comedy-drama film about a writer who adopts a strange young boy who believes himself to be from Mars. Martian Child was released on November 2, 2007. The film was directed by Menno Meyjes and produced by New Line Cinema. The film stars John Cusack, Joan Cusack, and Bobby Coleman. The MPAA rating system rated the film with a PG for thematic elements and mild language.
David Gordon (John Cusack), a popular science fiction author, lost his wife Mary when they were trying to adopt a child. Two years later, David is finally matched with a young boy named Dennis (Bobby Coleman). Socially awkward, Dennis believes he is from Mars and only goes outdoors when under the cover of a large box to block out the sun's harmful rays. Although initially hesitant to adopt a boy by himself, David recognizes a part of him in Dennis and slowly coaxes him out of the box and into his home.
With the help of David's friend Harlee (Amanda Peet) and sister Liz (played by Cusack's real life sister Joan), David and Dennis begin an arduous process of learning about each other, from Dennis' incessant photo-taking habits, his inclination to eat only Lucky Charms, and his perpetual stealing, to David's continuing love of his wife, his love of baseball and his own struggles to be accepted by others.
As David teaches Dennis how to be an "earthling", both earn each others' trust and eventually, they find someone who loves them unequivocally.
David Gerrold, the author of the book, adopted a son as an openly-gay man. In his novella, the sexuality of the protagonist is not disclosed, but in his novel, he is identified as gay. In the Hollywood movie version, the protagonist is straight (with a female love interest), causing some criticism from some members of the gay community nationwide.[2][3][4]
Reception
The box office performance was poor, grossing only a little more than US$9 million.However the rental and DVD sales of the film was good but wasn't good enough to match the money produced.[5]
DVD release
Martian Child was released on DVD on February 12, 2008. It opened at #20 the DVD sales chart, selling 69,000 units for revenue of $1.3m. As per the latest figures,400,000 DVD units have been sold, acquring revenue of $7,613,945. This does not include DVD rentals/Blu-ray sales.[6]
